Read: Acts 2:46| Listen: Acts 2

Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts. Acts 2:46

The centerpiece of the meal the believers share is the overwhelming joy that fills their hearts. When they had first heard Peter’s words, they were filled with desperate conviction. Their hearts knew the message they were hearing was true. Their sin had caused the death of God’s Son. However, this idea that God has been victorious and that, in Jesus’s resurrection, their sins are forgiven? Gladness can’t begin to describe how they feel! These early believers know one thing: they must keep meeting to learn more. As they do, it is this gospel joy that brings them closer together around the table and with each other.

The gospel joy that these early believers felt is the same joy God offers us today. We share in the sober reality of our world’s condition. Sin has broken our world, and we feel its weight. It has hurt us, as we have hurt others. Jesus was nailed to the cross as judgment for our sin. And yet, he chose this. As judgment fell on his willing shoulders, he extended an invitation made possible through his resurrection: new life. Anyone who accepts this invitation is restored to a relationship with God and welcomed into his family. Gladness doesn’t even begin to describe the gospel joy that is waiting for us!

TODAY: Gospel joy is calling your name. Make today the moment you accept Jesus’s saving work on the cross and surrender to him as Lord of your life. If you already follow Jesus, thank him for his finished work on the cross. Then celebrate with us by listening to “Finished Work of Christ” by Ada Bible Worship.

For more encouragement, listen to the Beyond the Weekend Podcast as the team discusses what it means to grow together—find it wherever you listen to podcasts or watch on YouTube HERE.